it’s a beautiful day for a hydrafacial

by Katie on June 3, 2011

Hydra-what? So, my newest friend, Luba, from Russia is a gorgeous massage therapist/cosmetologist who is always hoping to go dirty dancing (pronounced zirt-zee zancing!). This lovely morning she invited me to get a free facial at her place, Pure Zen, and being the yes-girl that I am, I said “Totally!”

So, I biked to Luba’s office at 10am and walked into a room of 3 other people. CJ, who was performing the facials today, owns 3 spas around northern Colorado. This woman knew her stuff. She’s been in the industry for awhile and obviously enjoyed learning all about beauty services. I watched her give 3 HydraFacials and picked her brain the whole time so I am pretty much an expert now

What’s a Hydrafacial?

The HydraFacial is done in 6 continents and the technology is about 8 years old now, although, HydraFacials have only been done in Colorado for 5 years. The technology was invented by 2 engineers in their garage (of course) who were teamed up with Dr. Freedman. The process has proven results and is therefore FDA Approved. It even won the industry’s “Best of The Best Award” in 2006!

How Does The Hydrafacial Treatment Work?

Ok, enough with the numbers. Let’s get down and dirty with what actually happened. CJ used a tool with a spiral tip. The tool was attached to some fancy-schmancy machine that contained several different fluids. The spiral tip rotated your pores so that the tool could do its business.

The first fluid that CJ used was called Lactic Angla-Glucosamine or somethin’. She said that this gets rid of old cells which is good for anti-wrinkling, acne, large pores, and rosacea.

Next, CJ filled the tip with salicylic acid. This stuff can be found in just about all products that are treating acne. Salicylic acid helps shed cells more readily, opens clogged pores while neutralizing the bacteria within, prevents pores from clogging by constricting the pore, and allows for new cell growth. Alright!

Then, we moved on to stage 3 where CJ used a plumper or so she called it. The plumper contained horse chestnut, vitamin a and e, white tea, rosemary, and hyaluronic acid. All good things. Hyaluronic acid is naturally produced by our bodies and get this! It holds 1,000 times its weight in water; just like how an ant can lift 20 times its own weight…or not the same thing at all. The plumper’s job was to give the “just landed in Florida look.”

How Much Does a HydraFacial Cost?

After these three treatments, CJ applied a moisturizer, a serum, and some sunblock (safety-first). The whole thing took about 30 minutes and the pain level was extremely tolerable. My skin was pink but that faded after 10 minutes. I had noticeably smaller, cleaner pores and was overall pleased. The cost of a HydraFacial comes in at about $150 per treatment and CJ recommended getting them once a month but it obviously depends on the person.

So, there you have it. Now you know what a Hydrafacial is. For more information contact me or CJ at Barcelona Spa.